UFC Fight Night Brazil Post Fight Analysis

Hello fight fans! UFC Fight Night took place this weekend at Ibirapuera Arena, Sao Paulo, Brazil and the Brazilians dominated!

Trivia (answer at end)

Who has the most submission wins in UFC history?

Elves Brener vs. Kaynan Kruschewsky

Recap: This 165 lbs. catchweight fight between the two Brazilians was pretty conservative during the first half.  Brener was hesitant and trying to find his rhythm against Kruschewsky who was breaking up the rhythm with his length and controlling with more pressure.  In the second half of the first round, Brener kicked it up a notch with some strong punches.  Then with a minute left to go, Brener threw his right hand, stepped through and under Kruschewsky’s counterpunch, and came back with an overhand left that clipped Kruschewsky in the back of the ear.  The knockout happened so fast and Kruschewsky went down on the canvas face first.

What’s Next: Brener said he wants to fight anyone to keep moving up and this was his second knockout in a row.  This was Kruschewsky’s UFC debut so we’ll see more of him. 

Caio Borralho vs. Abus Magomedov

Recap: The first two rounds of this fight were pretty anti-climatic.  In round 1, the two were feeling one another out and being patient (good to know Magomedov learned after his last fight against Strickland).  Borralho came out in a southpaw stance (which put the two in an open stance) and seemed to throw off Magomedov’s timing.  Round 2 picked up a little but it was mostly Borralho coming in and out fast, displaying good footwork, and tagging Magomedov with the jab.  Then the excitement came in round 3.  Borralho continued with the jab and then around halfway through, he tagged Magomedov with an elbow and then tagged him again with a knee.  This wobbled Magomedov who then brought the fight to the ground.  Borralho continued to dominate and tried to submit him with a rear naked choke, but Magomodov managed to survive the rest of the round to make the fight go the distance.  Great fight plan and discipline by Borralho to tire Magomedov out throughout the fight and unleash in the third round.

What’s Next: Borralho now has the second longest win streak in the Middleweight division.  He wants DDP next and then the title.  Personally I think he should get top 15 to see where he stands.  I think he’s a great fighter with a lot of potential, but I don’t think he’s at DDP’s level.  Plus, DDP should get the next title shot (NOT Chimaev).  Magomedov showed better cardio and control.  This is his third fight in the UFC so I’d like to see how he adapts as he looked off from Borralho just switching up his footwork.

Rodrigo Nascimento vs. Don’Tale Mayes

Recap: What a fun competitive bout between these two Heavyweights for all three rounds.  In the beginning, Nascimento came out really strong and I thought he was going to knock Mayes out but Mayes persevered.  The rest of the fight involved a lot of combinations thrown from both guys, clinching with knees and elbows, and some dirty boxing.  Nascimento really inflicted damage in the first two rounds and if Mayes won a round it would have been the third.  At the end of the fight, Nascimento won by decision and the two were very close in significant strikes.

What’s Next: Nascimento is on a four fight win streak, has one more fight left on his contract, and wants someone in the top 15.  Mayes will still need to fight his way to a top 15 opponent.

Gabriel Bonfim vs. Nicolas Dalby

Recap: This was definitely the most exciting fight of the night.  Once the fight started, Bonfim wasted no time going in with some power shots to put Dalby out, but the veteran did not go down.  Dalby strategized and got Bonfim to the fence to slow him down and after, the two fought at a very high pace striking back and forth.  Halfway through the first round, Bonfim got Dalby to the ground and controlled him the majority of the time in side control and ended the round with ground and pound.  Once round 2 started, the two again went at it at a high pace and Bonfim got Dalby to the ground early on.  Then, Dalby showed great defense, got back to his feet, and started to inflict damage against Bonfim.  At the two minute mark, Bonfim looked at the clock and you could see the exhaustion on his face.  Dalby stayed in the pocket, kept Bonfim’s hips square against the fence, and threw a plethora of punches, elbows, and knees.  Not many fighters do this against Bonfim.  With 32 seconds left, Bonfim ate a knee and fell to the canvas.  Dalby, the +425 underdog, secured the official TKO at 4:33.

What’s Next: I would like to see Dalby fight someone in the top 15.  In the post fight show he chose JDM and I like that pick.  Keep in mind, Dalby is 38 and this is his second stint with the UFC so I do think he’d be able to handle someone like JDM. He was extremely explosive this fight and really used his cardio and experience to outperform Bonfim as we saw.  This was only Bonfim’s first UFC loss and he’s going to continue to fight his way to a top 15 opponent.  Keep watching him as he’s been explosive and quick in his past fights.  I hope he learns to pace himself a bit more though because it was evident he was tired and that pace is hard to keep up for a whole fight.

Jailton “Malhadinho” Almeida vs. Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis

Recap: Almeida won his 15th fight in a row by dominating Lewis with technique, strength, and control time on the ground.  Boring, but this was a big win and a great test for him as Lewis has the most knockouts in UFC history and is incredibly strong.  Even though Lewis was dominated, he kept his composure and Almeida couldn’t inflict as much ground and pound as the fans would have liked.  Lewis is a big guy, but he is extremely explosive.  If Almeida gave him space (which you need for ground and pound), he risks Lewis exploding, getting into position, and knocking him out, which he’s done with previous opponents.  This was a great win for Almeida and Lewis surprised us all by taking the fight the distance which was very unlikely.

What’s Next: Almeida called out Gane.  Even though Lewis is a difficult man to beat, I think Almeida needs to fight more guys higher in the rankings AND most importantly give the people what they want.  I want to see if he can take Curtis Blaydes to the ground and keep him there.  I personally don’t think this lowered Lewis’ stock, but he needs to work on his grappling if he wants to fight higher ranked guys and keep moving up.

Trivia Answer

Charles “Do Bronxs” Oliveira

Until next time fight fans!

BMF

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